Save me
by vylotnapier
Summary: When you're one of Gambol's kids, a kid picked up off the streets and put in an illegal foster home, running away isn't an option. He'll find you, bring you back and put you in a foster home worse than the one you came from. But what do you do when you're about to be sold off to one of the worst villains? You hope to god Batman and Robin will save you before you do something awful.


I bit back a blood curdling scream as the belt came down against my bare back again, the shirt already shredded. I wouldn't let her have the satisfaction of hearing me scream. Not today.

The worst part was the kids! I might be older than Lexis, Addie, and Jacob, but for them to watch this, and worse, to know what it feels like… it was inhumane.

I could hear the soft scuff of a hand against the floor as Addie, the second oldest girl at 12, discretely squeezed the youngest girl (who was 6), Lexis's hand. I could tell without looking that that was what was happening, my ears were better than most, my eyes and reflexes too. More… animalistic.

I also knew that Jacob, the little 7 year old boy, was hiding his head in Forrest's side, and Forrest (the oldest at 16) and Angel (who was 15) were turning their heads, trying to not look.

She should have been finished with me by now. Sure, I mouthed off to her, but that was only because Lexis had woken up from a nightmare whimpering. Whimpering! She would have gotten beaten for whimpering. She had a right to whimper. She saw her parents get murdered by a street thug, and she constantly had nightmares. Too bad I was the one to save her this time.

I felt a red haze cover my mind, and I realized the wetness I had felt on my hand earlier that night was blood.

I heard Forrest's voice from above me. "Stop! You'll kill her!"

"Fine. Clean her up. The floor too. You know where the alcohol and bandages are for…" I lost consciousness.

I awoke with a scream of pain as I felt the white-hot burning of the vodka on my back.

"Sorry, sorry," Angel said as he held me down. Addie helped as Forrest poured more of the alcohol on.

I clenched my teeth as the clear liquid burned its way down my back and down the drain in the tub. A couple seconds later I felt bandages being wrapped around me. I tried to take my mind off the pain. "The kids. Tell me," I said. I hissed as Forrest wound the bandages around a particularly horrible spot. "Ouch! Damnit Forrest!"

"Sorry," he said. "I put them to bed. They were shaken."

I shook my head. "It's fine."

He tied it off, "Done. Now you need to rest. She's going out tomorrow. We have a day off." He didn't need to elaborate.

"Good." I stood up, wincing. "I'm going to bed now. Goodnight." I walked out of the room, found the room I shared with all the other kids, and fell face-first onto my bed, dead to the world.

When I woke up, my back was stiff, the others were already awake and gone, their beds empty.

I stood up and walked towards the kitchen, where I heard quiet voices. I noticed that the floors were suspiciously clean. It was usually my job to clean them before breakfast.

I rubbed my eyes as I stared at my foster siblings gathered around the island counter, enjoying some vegetables. There were some set aside for me, too.

I dug into the bit of tomato with relish, savoring the juiciness of it.

"You ok?" Angel asked me, worry making his Mexican accent more prominent.

I smiled sadly at him. "I'm better. Thank you. As long as none of you got anything bad, I'm ok."

"You stupid little-" Forrest cut himself off. "Why I even try, Vylot, I don't know. You almost died last night. Died."

"Better me than Lexis," I said. "You know what was coming to her. She didn't deserve it."

"Neither did you, but you took it anyway," Forrest said.

"I can take it," I said,

He shook his head, "Whatever. I can't do anything about your stubbornness."

I felt Lexis hug me around my waist and put her head on my side. "Thank you, Vylot," she said. She never was one to talk much because of her lisp.

"You're welcome, honey," I said. "Don't worry about it." I hurt a lot, but it was ok. At least it wasn't Lexis like this. I took a bite of something tasty. I looked to Angel, Forrest was still mad at me for almost getting myself killed. "Did she forget to lock the fridge?"

"No," Angel said. I my hopes shrank. "But I did happen to get the milk jug out before she locked it." He pulled out the almost-finished quart from under the table. We all whooped and Forrest got out six chipped and/or cracked cups from under the sink.

Forrest, always the control freak, divided it up evenly and made us wait until everyone had theirs for us to drink ours. "Three, two, one!" we all started slowly drinking the miniscule amount that we had. It was slightly warm, but it was the best thing I'd had in a long time.

"Muhmmm," Lexis moaned around her cup. We were all thinking the exact same thing. We usually got bread and water. Prison food had to be better than that. "It'th tho good!"

"That it is, Lex. That it is," Addie said.

I smiled. "I want to go out today."

There was silence for a few seconds before Forrest went, "What?"

"I want to go out. You know, outside," I said. "She hasn't let us out in ages, and I'm bored."

"Better bored than beat," Jacob said quietly. He doesn't talk much because a different foster home beat him for it.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't you guys ever take chances? Come on, this is our only chance for possibly months to get outside."

"And another reason for her to beat you if she catches you!"

"To be out on the street again? It'd be worth it," I said. "Come on, our sun exposure comes from standing in front of a window. I want to see the sun again! I want to see other people!"

"No, Vylot. Absolutely not!" Forrest said. "It's not worth getting beaten over."

"You know what?" I asked, standing up. "Fine. You win. I'm going upstairs to the room." I turned and headed back to the door.

"Alright," he said, sighing. "But I'm just trying to protect you, since you obviously don't want to protect yourself."

I'd paused by the door to listen, but when he was done, I headed upstairs. I didn't care what Forrest wanted, I was going outside. Maybe not today, but tonight. I had to get out.

I sighed and checked the clock. 11:30. Dang! I had slept late! I couldn't have been up for over half an hour. I was supposed to be up before five o'clock every day. The others had covered for me. I silently praised them in my mind. They really were wonderful people.

I groaned and turned onto my stomach, my back hurting too much to be lying on it. Today wouldn't be completely devoid of chores, so I decided to start on some of the basic ones. First things first, I tidied up the bedroom, even though there wasn't much to do. I made the beds and pulled out a stray sock from under Jacob's. Then I grabbed the broom and swept up everything, only collecting a very small amount as we cleaned it every day.

"Working already?" I heard Forrest ask.

I grinned. "Yeah, can't heap everything on you!"

He grinned back, knowing I was way too proud to ask for help on chores and such, but when I took some sort of punishment for one of them, they always did my chores for the next day. Of course, Angel and Forrest never let me take their punishments. They'd always try to outdo me with mouthing off, and we'd both be punished horribly, but they wouldn't let me take the punishments alone.

"Anyway, have you really given up the idea of going outside?"

"Of course, Forrest," I said. "It was stupid. I just miss the streets sometimes."

He nodded. "I used to too, but you'll get over it. I did. Now it's just anticipation, who's going to adopt me? Who would want to adopt a 16 year old anyway?"

"Who'd want to adopt a 14 year old?"

Shouts of, "She's back! She's back!" rang throughout the house, but quieted as soon as the door opened.

I grabbed a broom and Forrest grabbed the dustpan and we raced downstairs.

"Where's my coffee? I want my lunch!" she screeched. "Make me my steak!"

I quickly ran into the kitchen to prepare it while Lexis and Addie got the key to the fridge and the food cupboards.

She came running into the kitchen and set about preparing the stake that had been marinating overnight. To begin with, and to keep her from hitting the others, I sent out Addie with some cinnamon rolls that Forrest had evidently made this morning. They must have been cooking while I was down here.

Within an hour the steak was ready and Forrest, Angel, and I started on her dessert while the others waited on her.

We made chocolate cake, and shortbread cookies, and chocolate chip cookies, just to be safe. Those were her favorites.

The shortbread cookies were ready in twenty minutes, barely after she had finished. We were lucky we could make them on time. The other stuff took considerably longer, but it was ok, because she had her cookies.

She had us continue with chores. And soon the day was over. It was pretty normal, other than my little exclamation that I liked the streets better and I wanted go back.

Soon after she sent us to bed (around 11 o'clock) I laid down in bed on my back so I wouldn't sleep. As soon as I was sure the others were completely asleep, I walked silently to the window and opened it up. It was midnight by this point. Quickly I pulled out the note I wrote and slipped it under my covers. 'Out,' it said. 'I'll be back by dawn.'

I climbed onto the window, years of training in the circus coming into play and jumped to the tree that was close to the window. I twirled on the branch I held onto and landed on it in a crouch. I nimbly jumped from branch to branch, loving the taste of fresh air.

I grinned, remembering when I was in the circus. I remembered flying through the air on a trapeze with only a net to catch me if I fell. I was a contortionist, I did tricks on the trapezes that most people would find impossible on the ground.

My smile dropped off my face as I remembered the day my life took a turn for the worse.

_FLASHBACK_

I laughed as I twirled through the air then extended my hands, trusting Jaden to catch me. Hands gripped my wrists and halted my progress through the air. He grinned down at me as I pulled myself up to the trapeze and he gripped it with his hands. We both struck a pose.

Our ringmaster walked in clapping. "Very good, very good! You're getting almost as good as your parents."

We grinned, Jaden putting his arm on my shoulder. He was my _older_ brother by four years, and he constantly reminded me of it.

"Thank you, sir!" we chorused. We were probably the most polite kids around, even though he was already 14 and I was 10.

"Can I see you do your contortion in silk performance? We're trying to replicate the caliber of the Cirque du Soleil performances," he said.

I smiled as one of the backstage hands ran off to pull down the silk curtains. If I practiced hard enough, the Ringmaster said I might one day get into Cirque du Soleil. It was my dream to be good enough for that. That's what this circus was, a training camp for Cirque du Soleil. We called ourselves, Cirque de la Lune. We were the Circus of the Moon instead of the Circus of the Sun. Our performances weren't quite good enough for Cirque du Soleil, but with a little practice, we would be.

I ran through my routine as if I were performing for a crowd. I knew that my parents, who I saw by the opening of the tent, would like the show.

Mom said, "I can't wait to see that in costume! It'll look so good!"

Dad smiled. "It's excellent. Just remember, we're here to make it look easy. Remember your face, and you'll be perfect."

Then we heard the bell that signaled the opening of the gates.

"The gates aren't supposed to open for another two hours," Jaden said. "What're people doing coming in so early?"

Then we heard the gunshots.

"Vylot, hide!" Jaden hissed.

I nodded and pulled open a secret compartment under the stands that was like tinted windows. They could only see black, but anyone under could clearly see out.

Just as the door clicked shut behind me, the flaps of the tent opened. I saw a man in a ninja outfit come out. Without wasting any time, he pulled out a long sword and attacked my family. Everyone, even the Ringmaster was murdered. I waited for a long time, crying mostly, but waiting too. When I heard the sirens, I knew I couldn't stay. I would be put into the foster care system and I'd heard stories of that from a different performer, Pedro.

So I ran. I took off through the back door of the tent, grabbing my street clothes on the way. Luckily they were older, a pair of black shorts with a hole in them, and a green slightly faded t-shirt.

I learned to live on the streets. I did pretty well for three and a half years before I was caught by the kiddie snatchers. They take you to illegal foster homes where you get adopted by people with false identities or with, well, less than stellar police records. Even here, younger kids are wanted more. I've been here for six months and nobody's even looked twice at me.

_END FLASHBACK_

I let go of my branch and let myself drop to the ground. I started to run down the street. Running took my mind off of everything. It always has.

Speaking of my time at Cirque de la Lune, I had kept up with my flexibility, I made sure I didn't lose it. It was the last thing I had of my parents, other than my black hair from my dad, and strange green eyes I inherited from my mom. **(A.N. see profile for picture) **

My mother was… special. She, like her female ancestors before her, was part 'curse' that's passed along to each female member of my family. We're gifted with a physical manifestation and certain talents. My physical manifestation was a pair of wings. Lucky for me they turned into a small tattoo (placed on my wrist. All of us with the 'curse' had one there so we could hide our physical manifestation) my other… abilities included an IQ of 220, photographic memory, the ability to feel emotions, healing factor, wall-crawling, and slight precognition. It helped sometimes on the streets. I got a strong sense of foreboding at some places, so I stayed away, and I sometimes got dreams that came true.

The males in the family got a few extra things. They were quicker and lighter on their feet than normal humans, they were more flexible and made muscles more easily, and their senses ar- were a little heightened. There aren't any more males in my family.

I sighed and turned a corner of a building. I didn't want to spend my night thinking about Jaden and mom and dad.

"Whatcha doin there girlie?" I heard a deep voice say. "Walkin out all on your lonesome."

"Running, actually," I said, turning to face the car that had been following me. "And I've got to get back to it."

"You can wait a few minutes!" he said. "Boss will want to see you. He likes the fast runners. They can escape the cops better."

I glared. "He wants me, he can adopt me."

"Adopt you?" they seemed interested.

I sighed. "I'm one of Gambol's kids." Any kid grabbed by the kiddie snatchers was Gambol's property until they got adopted.

"You're one of Gambol's kids?" a guy in the back repeated. He grinned. "He won't mind if we take you for a spin as long as we pay him afterwards! You can be our girl tonight."

"You know," a voice, definitely younger than the others. "I've never liked Gambol. I've never really liked thugs either."

"Leave us alone! Ain't none of your business," one of them said.

"It's my city, it's my business," he said. Suddenly there was a thump behind me, and I was pushed behind a guy wearing a black cape. He couldn't be much older than I am. "Get lost! It's not right to fight in front of a lady." Well, I've been in a couple fights myself, so I'm not sure if that rule applied to me. Either way it was sexist. There was a bit of grumbling and cursing as they drove away.

"Sexist pig," I muttered. Then I spoke louder. "Thanks for saving me. I could have handled it though."

"Yeah," he grinned. "Sure you could've. Anyway, my name's Robin." He turned to face me and I saw the sidekick of the masked vigilante Batman. "I'll walk you home. What's you're name." We started walking.

"Jade," I lied. I cursed my luck. To meet a guy who was out to put away the man who practically owned me and every other kid the snatchers picked up was just another complication in my life. "I'm not really one of Gambol's kids, you know. I just said I was because I thought it would give me some sort of protection. This_ is_ his territory."

"And it didn't work I take it?"

"What was your first clue? The, 'He won't mind if we take you for a spin' or the 'You can be our girl tonight.'?'

"I could have fought them."

"I'm sorry, but you can fight?"

I glared at him. "I might be small but I can still pack a punch! I used to be in New York's division of Cirque de la Lune."

"No way!"

"Yeah! I can show you a couple tricks if you like," I said.

"Alright! Go ahead!"

"Can you hold me up, straight up on just your arms? Like, I'll use my arms to stand on yours," I asked.

"Sure," he said. "So how do I start?"

"Just put your hands up. I'll get up there," I said, smiling brightly. It must have seemed to him like an impossible feat for me, him being way taller than me. He smiled and rolled his eyes, but he humored me.

I grabbed his right arm and pulled myself up. He seemed surprised when I sat on his shoulders and grabbed his hands, pushing myself into a handstand. I let go with one hand and made sure to strike a pose. Then I pushed off, did a spin in mid air, and landed on my feet. He seemed surprised.

"I'm also a contortionist," I said, pulling my leg straight up in the air then doing a backbend as I let it down, I touched my heels in my backbend and then raised myself into a standing position.

"Wow. You know, I used to trapeze before Batman took me in," he told me.

I smiled sadly. "Me and my brother did the same thing."

"You have a brother?"

"Yeah, Damien," I said. The best way to lie is to mix a little truth in. That's what I was doing. Lying about my name and home life, and telling the truth about the circus. "He would always catch me no matter what. And he would play pranks on the others with me. And we would never get caught." I wiped a tear away. "But that's gone now."

"Why?"

I avoided the uncomfortable question with a, "That's me. My house is right here." The foster home was here. "I wasn't supposed to go out. I've gotta climb back through the window before they realize I'm gone."

"See you later than, Jade," he said.

"Bye-bye, Robin!" I grinned. I nimbly jumped up to the nearest branch and the next one, and the one after that, until I reached the window to the room I slept in. Then I jumped in, feet first… and crashed right into Forrest, standing right by the window waiting for me. Oh boy, explaining myself would not be fun.


End file.
